Work on your mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic

As business operations run remotely across the globe and citizens practice social distancing due to the novel coronavirus, we have all been confined to our homes. Travel has been restricted to the living room and the kitchen. In such scenarios, it’s easy to overthink and allow negative emotions to get the better of us.

Times have been tough - business owners are finding it difficult to make payments; children are frustrated for not being able to go out; household supplies have become top priority; addictions are getting difficult to curb; loneliness and emptiness has kicked in. We all know that everyone’s worried and stress levels are high.

What we should constantly remind ourselves about is that our well-being and mental health plays a huge role in getting through tough times like these.

Here are a few tips on how to ensure that we all can get through this and remain strong mentally:

Focus on a positive future.

It is difficult to completely neglect how tough this time has been on millions across the globe. But, as far as possible, think about how things will be once we overcome this challenge. Believe in the fact that we are all in this together and that we will all get through these challenges, hopefully soon.

Make a plan of the exciting things that you will do once all this is done. Involve all your favourite people in this and make a creative game out of it.

Play your role in helping wherever you can and, provide support and have faith in all the experts who working 24/7 to get us out of this.

Exercise regularly. Your body and your mind.

This is one of the most important things to do. Your body can fight stress when it is fit. This doesn’t mean that you have to force yourself into doing intense workouts. Build smaller routines and more importantly be regular. There are many trainers / platforms, that are offering virtual classes (quite a few for FREE, for example Cure.fit). You will feel energized every day and it will give you the happiness of accomplishing a challenging task.

Exercising your mind. Just like the muscles in your body, your brain needs to have a workout routine as well. This means that you should try and indulge in activities that stimulate thinking, for example playing games, virtually brainstorming with your team, or having valuable Q&A sessions on interesting topics. Keep those juices flowing and avoid thinking about topics that can overwhelm you with negative emotions.

Pursue your hobbies.

It’s time for you to pick up that guitar and play! Look into your closet (literal and metaphorical) and bring out all those items that have been gathering dust. We should use this time to do all the things that we’ve always kept for later because of the statement, “I would love to do this but, things are busy right now”.

Pick something you really enjoy doing and something that can be done indoors at home, for example baking, playing an instrument, singing, reading, dancing, mastering a video game or learning online. There is an endless list of hobbies that you can pursue, but I repeat, pick something you really enjoy doing.

Spend enough time with those you enjoy with.

Whether it’s someone at home or someone across the world, connect with them as often as you can. Refrain from talking about negative news and focus on fun activities and positive information.

Technology has enabled us to not only interact with people virtually, but also to watch movies together (Netflix Party), play games together (Online Ludo, Chess, Monopoly, Heads Up!, Psych! etc.), and even workout together (Cure.fit). Take advantage of the digital world and enjoy with all your favourite people.

Accept that there are events that you cannot control.

Everything cannot be control. I’m sure it would be wonderful to pick our own story-line and travel back in time, but we aren’t there yet. So, we need to accept the fact that the we’re not inside a game or a TV show and that the past cannot be changed.

Instead what we can control, to a certain extent, is our future. All we need to do is make simple and wise decisions, for example eating healthy, practicing social distancing during COVID-19, saving our earnings and learning new skills. Here’s a small exercise that you can do – make a list of 10 small decisions that you want to make for a better future for yourself or your loved ones. Review your decisions every 2 days until the task is 100% complete.

Post Author:
Abhishek Mehta

Abhishek Mehta is a Co-founder of Skillephant, a skill development and management firm that helps organisations build and manage teams. Prior to this, while working with globally leading e-commerce clients at a real estate firm, Abhishek was able to build an expertise in project and human resource management. It was early in his career when he learnt about the valuable role that a strong human capital plays in an organization's success. Abhishek is ardent about making a difference and providing people with vital learning and development resources that can pave the path to success.